The Methodology Of The Prophet

We cannot talk about Da’wah methodology without talking about the methodology followed by the Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) followed the flow of the revelation therefore his Da’wah was built on what Allah was transmitting to him.

And the revelation at times was in direct response to events happening in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) and at times it was general teachings based on previous events like stories related to the earlier Prophets or prior events in history. But the momentum was always towards completing all the different elements needed to establish a complete system of life based on the wisdom of our Creator.

As creation of Allah we are completely dependent of our Creator and even if we were given reason and are capable to transmit to each other’s past acquired knowledge we are still in need for Allah’s Guidance in our lives .

All the Prophets came with the same essential message, to worship Allah alone.

And to worship Allah alone is what we were created for and it is something that is embedded in our being.

It is not a foreign concept it is in our nature.

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإِنسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ

(And I created not the Jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me.) meaning, I, Allah, only created them so that I order them to worship Me, not that I need them. ‘Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah (إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ)

If the concept in itself is simple, the implementation and realization of true monotheism is not the mere understanding of this concept, because Iblis also knows that Allah is One and Unique and All Powerful.

The degrees to which we are able to realize true monotheism in ourselves and as a community depends on belief factors, religious rituals, cultural and economic achievements, and social justice.

At time and places our perdition is in our creed at time it is social injustice or other factors.

The most urgent issue in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) was that in Makkah people were worshiping idols, man-made statues and that gave way to all the other forms of disobedience and perdition. Every community in different times suffers from a form of perdition.

Our goal in Da’wah is to identify what needs to be reformed. If the concept of monotheism has been taught and is being understood then it is the other aspects of Islam where we got mislead that need to be corrected. The Da’wah of the Prophet (ﷺ) was gradual and complete. People who have issues with polytheism need to be advised and corrected with that specific illness first.

But when the defects are in social issues that is what needs to be addressed when it is in rituals and cultural issues likewise and the same goes for economic issues. Each illness will respond to a specific cure. The cure of poverty is not to correct the concept of monotheism in “ Tawheed Rububiya” or Ubudiya. To correct economic injustice we need to implement the rules and regulations stipulated in the Quran and Sunnah regarding issues related to business, loans, interest, hording, monopolizing.

Da’wah (invitation to Allah) is not just to discuss of the virtues of Islam, or to be better in arguing with non Muslims about the correct beliefs about Allah (God) and religion, or about how to worship or not worship Allah, of the existence or not of a Creator.